The Tyreopedia – a Complete Reference to Vehicle Tyres

WebEditor Automobiles

From the age of metal and wooden tyres to the current age of pneumatic tyres, evolution has funnelled through countless years of technological advancements, hard work, creativity and most importantly failures.

In this article, we are going to give you overview of tyres & everything you need to know about them. So let’s dive right in.

What is tyre?

A tyre is an elastic rubber covering a metal rim of the wheel in order to provide a delicate and only contact with the ground. The tyre is essential in terms of absorbing shocks and bumps from the road while providing better handling capabilities.

A tyre can be tubed or tubeless, for example, the Dueler H/L D33 is a tubeless tyre. Likewise, at times tire manufacturers produce tires that are specific to a location. For example, if you Google ‘Goodyear Dubai’, you will find out that it produces tires that are specific to Dubai’s and the rest of the UAE’s climate. Likewise, tires for areas like Alaska where there is extreme cold, tires must be able to handle the extreme cold and wet conditions.

Following is the composition of modern tyres:

  • Natural rubber
  • Fabric
  • Wire
  • Synthetic rubber
  • Chemical compounds
  • Carbon black

History

The history of the tyre starts at a curve of time when Benz manufactured a vehicle in 1888, furnished with one of a kind metal tyres secured with rubber compound and pressurized with air, bringing about the era of pneumatic tyre or modern tyre.

Types of tyres

Construction

  1. Tubeless tyre

Tubeless tyres have constant ribs shaped build into the bead of the tyre so they are constrained by the air pressure inside the tyre to form a seal with the edge of the metal rim.

  1. Radial tyre

Radial tyres have cord piles arranged at the angle of 90 degrees such that cord piles are in the direction of vehicle progression. These cord piles begin at the inside of the tyre and run radially around the tyre. That is why they are called radials and why they perform better.

  1. Low rolling resistance tyre

Low resistance tyres are designed to decrease the rolling resistance of the tyre thus increasing the fuel economy of the vehicle up to 15%.

  1. Run-flat tyre

A run-flat tyre is a pneumatic vehicle tyre that is intended to oppose the impacts of flattening when punctured and to empower the vehicle to keep on being driven at a decreased speed of 90 km/h.

  1. Airless tyre

Airless tyres are made out of closed-cell polyurethane foam. Airless tyres are the tyres that are not bolstered via gaseous tension. They are utilized on low duty and heavy duty vehicles, for example, grass cutters, mechanized golf trucks & excavators. Airless tyre is occasionally used where the danger of tyre punctures is high.

Tread

  1. Rain tyre

Rain tyres have unique tread and groove design. This design enables the tyre to rapidly dislodge the water between the ground and the tread on the tyre. On the off chance that this water isn’t dislodged, the vehicle will encounter an impact referred to as hydroplaning, due to lack of contact with the ground. The grooves are intended to displace water as fast as conceivable to the edges of the tyre with its unique tread design in the centre of the tyre.

  1. All terrain tyre

All terrain tyres have deeper and thicker tread design. On the soft soil and rough terrain, the deep grooves on the tread help to form a firm grip to give more traction while driving. But on smooth surfaces, the traction isn’t so great. All terrain tyres have greater rolling friction hence consumes more fuel.

  1. Winter tyre

Winter tyres have a large number of sips in its tread, which are utilized to scatter water beneath the tyre while preventing aquaplaning. These tyres provide ideal grasp on the street, snow & ice. Additionally, the compacted snow increases the grasp impact, adding footing to push when the vehicle advances on frigid and cold streets.

  1. Summer tyre

Summer tyres have less of tread design and have a softer rubber compound to create better and stable contact with the road. The compound used in tread of the summer tyre is designed to stay increasingly adaptable, taking into account better footing and grasp.

  1. All season tyres

All season tyres are mainly developed for the purpose of providing good handling and comfort throughout the year –irrespective of the season. All season tyres are a combo of both winter and summer tyres. They have a symmetrical tread pattern to provide a better grip. All season tyres have a special rubber compound that provides grip on dry and warm roads as well as does not hardens in cold weather.

Material – Super Nano-Power Rubber Compound (SNPR)

Tyres build using Super Nano-Power Rubber Compound (SNPR) are commonly known as orange oil tyres. In these tyres, orange oil is used instead of petroleum. Yokohama Rubber Company manufactures these types of tyres.

Vehicles

Following are the vehicles tyres are manufactured for:

  1. Car
  2. Truck
  3. Tractor
  4. Van
  5. 4X4
  6. Aircraft
  7. Bicycle
  8. Motorcycle
  9. other

Specific applications

  1. Competition tyre

Competition tyres are also known as track tyres they are used in completion such as Nurburgring Old Timer Grand Prix, Zandvoort Historic Grand Prix and many others.

Completion tyres are ideal for high speed due to their composition and structure.

Competition tyres have either a smooth, semi-smooth or wet climate tread designs or softer rubber compound. These tread designs provide increased contact with the costumed designed racing track. Moreover, harder mixes highlight improved tread wear properties however with a decreased grasp.

  1. Spare tyre

In case of a puncture, a temporary tyre is used known as a spare tyre. Occasionally vehicle has four operational tyres and one spare tyre to be used just if any of the operational tyre fails.

These tyres are used temporarily till the point when tyre can be replaced at a service station.

  1. Street tyres

All the other tyres are known as street tyres. As discussed in the article.

Components of tyre

Below are the components of a tyre:

  1. Valve
  2. Beads filler
  3. Radial cord body
  4. Inner Liner
  5. Belt plies
  6. Sidewall
  7. Tread

Abnormal behaviour of the tyre

Following are the abnormal behaviour of the tyre:

Aquaplaning

Aquaplaning or hydroplaning occurs when a layer of water is present between the tyres and the street surface, prompting lost of grip and traction hence making the wheels unresponsive to the steering system. In the event that it strikes all the four wheels at the same time, the vehicle becomes uncontrolled. The vehicle mimics the same behaviour on the water as of oil on the roadway due to aquaplaning.

Slip

The motion of the tyre relative to the surface is known as slip. Either slip can be if the rotational speed of the tyre is more or less than the free rotational speed, or the tyre rotational angle is in the direction of the tyre motion also known as slip angle.

Tramlining

Tramlining is the propensity of a vehicle’s wheels being disrupted while driven on the uneven surface. Wide profile tyres and tyres with deep tread have a greater tendency to be affected by tramlining. While regularly driving tramlining is not dangerous but at high speeds vehicle can become instable. Due to tramlining drivers will feel that they need to make persistent course adjustments thus maintaining the steady course becomes difficult.

Vehicles which have wheels fitted that are bigger than the maker’s recommendations or have stiffer sidewalls can face this hazard.

Maintenance and tyre safety

Following are the key points while maintaining and ensuring your tyre safety:

  1. Park your vehicle in the shady area to avoid direct sunlight
  2. Buy yourself an air gauge and air pump
  3. At least once a month check your tyre pressure using an air gauge. Make sure tyre pressure is according to the placard on vehicle’s doorway, owner’s manual or you can perform an online search for manufacturer recommendations. Checking your tyre pressure is important because both over and under inflation can cause some major problems
  4. Check your tyre pressure when the tyres are cold –the vehicle has been at rest for at least 2 hours.
  5. Look for uneven tread wear, if found the issue could be tyre pressure or wheel misalignment
  6. Always make sure to not use an overage tyre even if it seems okay. The safe age of the tyre is 6 years.
  7. Never install an incompatible tyre. Always match the DOT from your previously manufacturer installed tyres with the ones you are about to install.

Identifying your tyre – ISO Metric tyre code

In order to identify the compatible tyre for your vehicle, you need to understand the ISO Metric tyre code and compare it with the previously compatible tyre.

Below is an example of an ISO Metric tyre code:

NAME P195/55R16 82S M+S MANUFACTURER

Key to the ISO Metric tyre code:

Name The name of the tyre
P Vehicle type
215 Nominal section
65 Nominal aspect ratio
R The internal construction of the tyre
15 Rim diameter
95 Load Index
H Speed Symbol
M+S Season intended for
Manufacturer The manufacturer of the tyre

 

In order to better understand the tyre code further, you can visit various news rooms and manufacturer websites.

Conclusion

Above is an outline overview of the tyres –the short version of encyclopaedia for tyres- in order for you to understand tyres better and stay safe on the road. Now you know what tyres are as well as have a better grip on your tyres and safety.

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